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GM/SCR to inaugurate a Photo Exhibition on “ 160 Years of Indian Railways” at Salar Jung Museum


Shri D.P. Pande, General Manager, South Central Railway will inaugurate a  “Photo Exhibition o­n 160 years of Indian Railways” at 11 00 hrs o­n 20th July, 2013 (Saturday) at  Eastern Block, Ground Floor, Salar  Jung Museum,  Hyderabad. Senior Railway officials will also be present o­n the occasion.

The Exhibition will be o­n display from 20th to 26thJuly, 2013. Entry for the Exhibition is free and the Exhibition will be open for viewers from 10 00 am to 05 00 pm o­n these days. Salar Jung Museumis the space provider for the Exhibition.

A Brief o­n the Photo Exhibition

to Commemorate “160 Years of Indian Railways”

Born in the year 1853, Indian Railways has entered into its 160th year of its existence in 2013. The journey is quite long, but not tiresome. Indian Railways has crossed many mile stones during the last 160 yearsand has become a more vibrant transport organisation. It is the largest railway net work under o­ne management, possesses the largest Passenger Reservation System, carried out the largest gauge conversion from meter gauge to broad gauge and the largest transport sector employer in the world. As a part of its celebrations to commemorate 160 years of its existence, the Ministry of Railways is organising a Photo Exhibition at important Cities in our Country.

The first such exhibition was inaugurated by Shri Vinay Mittal, Chairman, Railway Board, at Twin Art Gallery, Indira Gandhi Kala Kendra, Janpath, New Delhi which was organised from 24th May to 2nd June, 2013. Subsequently, the exhibition, with the same exhibits, was conducted at Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai before it is opened at Hyderabad. After Hyderabad, this exhibition will move to Bhubaneshwar, Kolkata, Allahabad, Jaipur and Patna. Entry for the Exhibition is free.

The Exhibition o­n “160 Years of Indian Railways” showcasesselected photographs from the archives of Indian Railways. History is witness to the fact that Indian Railways formed the Nation that is India today and it cannot be separated from its social fabric. Indian Railways has grown with India and has not o­nly bequeathed the country its vast architectural heritage in the form of station buildings and other infrastructures but is also the pivot of the Nation’s economy today. It is impossible to imagine an India without its Railways. The railways in their own powerful way have paved the way for the growth of the nation and thus is a lasting symbol of India’s unity.

While the Railways is marching steadily towards the future, it is imperative to remember the very foundations o­n which it was built. It is time to reclaim the past which may be getting lost in the annals of time. Moreover, it has always been theobjective of Indian Railways to preserve the past as its rich history is undeniably o­ne of the most compelling tales in the story of India. This photo exhibition culls out the interesting moments of the life of this organisation concentrating primarily o­n the first 100 years of it existence which was a period of great turbulence for the Railways as well as the world.

It seeks to bring the railways back into the forefront of public consciousness. It takes the narrative of the railways back in time from its current point, revisit memories in sepia and black and white tones to understand the transitional, exciting, tumultuous phases that this organization has gone through. The railways in India as elsewhere in the world, revolutionized traditional concept of space and time and led to new geographies being formed.

The photo exhibition does not trace the history of Indian Railways sequentially from 1853 to the present. It is a thematic portrayal of the many facets of this organisation. Through many are photographs sourced from railway archives, Press Information Bureau, Railway Museums, the importance of the railways in the lives of the people, its role as an integrating force, as a catalyst of history and as a mute spectator to the unfolding historical events have been showcased.

The photographs, encompassing all the fundamental aspects of the railways are evocative of an era long gone but which has shaped the present. The ‘Personalities’ section’ is of special interest as it reveals the view of some eminent leaders o­n the Railways. Simi8larly, the sections o­n ‘Station Architecture’ are of immense interest as they more than anything else speak of the time in history of their construction. Their interiors are reflections of the society, the social stratification, while their exteriors present a larger picture of the developmental stage of the town and city. It has been dedicated to the workmen, who are solely responsible for the running of the trains. The photographs reflects the hard labour which is put in to transport millions of people across thousands of kilometers, marking the practices most of which are still fundamental to railway working today.